Indulge your 15 fetish if you've got one. I don't, but if you do ... have some.

No idea what TRACTION ENGINES are (36A: Road locomotives) or what a PHILIPPINE EAGLE looks like (10D: Southeast Asian soarer), and I generally just call BINOCULAR VISION "vision" (3D: Aid in judging distances). I like ERIC THE RED on DINAH SHORE (14A: Icelandic saga subject + 17A: "Chantez-Chantez" singer, 1957), but there's not much interesting about the rest. Impressive grid, ordinary fill (with some dips into less-than-ordinary). I am making a ton of costly mistakes lately. Today's was GMAT for LSAT (a very, very stupid mistake, given letter likelihood) (21A: It's taken by some coll. seniors). This kept both long Downs in the east hidden for too long. Also could do nothing with the central 15s, despite having first five letters of each in place. AIR CONDITIONERS should've been obvious (37A: Runners often seen in windows). No idea what was going on there. The other two I understand, but AIR CONDITIONERS ... that should've fallen. Couldn't rememberSATINS (23D: The Five ___, 1950s million-selling doo-wop group), couldn't getHENIE (29D: "Iceland" star, 1942) or PETE (33D: Rose family member) from the clues, initially. Bah, this should've been much easier than it was. Not much else to say.

Bullets:

1A: "I'm a Survivor" sitcom ("REBA") — is that the theme song. I've never seen even a second of that show.

5A: "West Side Story" girlfriend (ANITA) — if not MARIA, then, ANITA.

25A: Class Notes subject, informally (ALUM) — no idea what "Class Notes" is. Google is no help and I don't really care.

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comments:

Another pretty easy Fri. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting used to looking for the familiar answer for a WTF clue. For example, REDA was a gimme and a four letter crossword sitcom beginning with R = REBA no matter how obscure the clue. Same with NEHI, all you need is the N, and four letter muralist starting with S has to be SERT. Plus had BINOCULAR...off the B and RAISE.... with 3 crosses. So, not much of a fight. That said, I've never heard of TRACTIONENGINE.

Anyway erasures: ALES to ADES, OFLITTLE to TOLITTLE, LENTO to LARGO, and GRES to LSAT.

Problem area(s): No big ones that I can spot but the EURE/SLUICE (tough to spell correctly)/DIDI intersection could be tricky. RHEE/HALAL/LENE might be also if you didn't remember HALAL clued the same way in a recent puzzle.

I liked this one fine. Again, not much zip but a solid Fri. grid.

@anon ^ -- The IIII (IV) is 180 degrees from the X on a roman numeral clock face.

Got the top and bottom third portions without too much trouble. The middle had me flummoxed. Never heard of TRACTION ENGINES, had the engine part but little else. 37A had me seeing hamsters running on their little wheelie thingies in a pet store window, had the ERS in place, so what the hey, couldn't make it work! DANG!

HTG and a big DNF here. Impatience got the better of me again. Part time puzzle partner returning home tomorrow, he's always good at filling in a few holes and telling me to "put it down and go back to it later".

If you think BINOCULAR VISION is just vision, close one eye and try dropping a carpenter's NAIL held at arm's length into the top of an open NEHI bottle 20 times. Keep score of hits and misses. Then try it with both eyes open. Compare scores. You'll literally see what's meant by stereopsis.

Last night, I stared at this for the longest time... I did not know or could not summon any of these names, and I could not get A TOE in. Some cheating ensued... That gave me some TRACTION (even though I have nooo idea what TRACTION ENGINES are). Once I got going, it fell into place. I admire the constructions, but it was not a fun solve.

If you're into zoology, you wouldn't think of binocular vision as all vision... Most prey species have monoucular vision so they can see a predator coming no matter what. Try sneaking up on a cow (or an anoa presumably!) They have 350 degree vision!

For all my complaining about names in crosswords, ANITA opened up the NW (after checking crosses to see if it would really be MARIA on a FRIDAY) and GREG opened up the SE and east.

The west gave me more of a fight as -PURPOSE, -ENGINES, and -IONERS just weren't helping me much. Finally believing EMIRS gave me enough to finish BINOCULAR VISION and ACADEMIC CIRCLES. I have to agree with everyone else about TRACTION ENGINES being a WTF answer. As was Rose family member PETE until I saw the picture of Mr. Rose. Thanks for that, REX. I had sussed out the meaning of IIII. While legit, I still agree that it is shenanigans.

A two letter DNF for me. I always want ERIN Burnett to be ERIc Burnett and AcODE seemed plausible. And ESTO seemed too Spanish to be part of Idaho's motto so I tried ESaO. Doesn't look very Latin, either, but what do I know? Apparently not quite enough.

IIII = shenanigans? The "IIII" four is actually more common on clocks using Roman numerals than "IV".

From Wiki:

Clock faces that are labeled using Roman numerals conventionally show IIII for four o'clock and IX for nine o'clock, using the subtractive principle in one case and not the other. There are many suggested explanations for this:

Many clocks use IIII because that was the tradition established by the earliest surviving clock, the Wells Cathedral clock built between 1386 and 1392. It used IIII because that was the typical method used to denote 4 in contemporary manuscripts (as iiij or iiii). That clock had an asymmetrical 24-hour dial and used Arabic numerals for a minute dial and a moon dial, so theories depending on a symmetrical 12-hour clock face do not apply.[22] Perhaps IV was avoided because IV represented the Roman god Jupiter, whose Latin name, IVPPITER, begins with IV. This suggestion has been attributed to Isaac Asimov.[23] Louis XIV, king of France, who preferred IIII over IV, ordered his clockmakers to produce clocks with IIII and not IV, and thus it has remained.[24] Using standard numerals, two sets of figures would be similar and therefore confusable by children and others unused to reading clockfaces: IV and VI are similar, as are IX and XI. As the first pair are upside down on the face, an additional level of confusion would be introduced—a confusion avoided by using IIII to provide a clear distinction from VI. The four-character form IIII creates a visual symmetry with the VIII on the other side, which the two-character IV would not. With IIII, the number of symbols on the clock totals twenty Is, four Vs, and four Xs,[25] so clock makers need only a single mould with a V, five Is, and an X in order to make the correct number of numerals for their clocks: VIIIIIX. This is cast four times for each clock and the twelve required numerals are separated: V IIII IX VI II IIX VII III X VIII I IX

The IIX and one of the IXs are rotated 180° to form XI and XII. The alternative with IV uses seventeen Is, five Vs, and four Xs, requiring the clock maker to have several different patterns.

Only the I symbol would be seen in the first four hours of the clock, the V symbol would only appear in the next four hours, and the X symbol only in the last four hours. This would add to the clock's radial symmetry.

A Friday or Saturday clue is a name you don't know but can guess at with enough crosses. For example, I never heard of "Iceland" (presumably a 1942 movie), but *ENIE suggested 1930s-40s ice skater Sonia. I dimly membered that she made some movies. Could ACH Gott be the first words in a title? Sure. It worked for George Burns.

This is the type of puzzle that probably hits you in one of two ways. You may know all the obscure proper names that are clued, in which case the puzzle in a breeze. Or you don't know them, in which case there are so many you probably can't finish without looking up some of the names, in which case the puzzle becomes easy. And since it has no theme, there really isn't much to admire about it when you're done. Long intersecting answers in puzzles are pretty common, so unless they interlock in a thematic way, they aren't too impressive. So, at least for me, I feel I pretty much wasted my time today.

@Anonymous 7:42 (the first one) - your comment made my day! One of the reasons I do puzzles is that I learn so much about unexpected subjects, I love it.

REBA may have been a gimme for some, but as a non-TV watcher, the REBA/ERIN cross was a guess, just based on the probability's being greater than ROBA/ORIN. MIATA/DISC almost a guess - what is a flying DISC, another name for a Frisbee?

As the Thomas the Tank Engine ref above indicates, traction engines are used on railroads - so does the "Road" in the clue mean railroad? A little too devious for my taste.

Other holdups were four before IIII, looking for a swinger with Norman for a first name, mariA before ANITA (whose name I had to guess), Indy before TAPS. It all came right in the end, though, and it was nice to get BINOCULAR VISION off the B_N.

"Class Notes" is a section in most alumni magazines - brief reports of the doings of alumni and alumnae, grouped by the year in which they graduated. Still took me a long time to see it.

After filling in REDA, ERICTHERED, and REBA, a redhead, I emitted an audible groan at the thought of RED as a theme. That ended soon enough. Seemed easy for a Friday, though the middle stack's TRACTIONENGINE cost me some time. Still falls into the "Meh" category.

King of the stacked 15’s, Martin A-S, treats us to some, (surprise!), stacked 15’s (and other assorted goodies).

While the puzzle leans toward an “easy” tag, there is enough knottiness in the seven 15’s, the four 10’s and in the cleverly clued thirty-eight 4’s to make this a fun challenge and a cut above the recent difficulty level of the Times Friday puzzles.

As often happens with “in the language” 15 letter thingies, they are eminently gettable on their own, (or with the help of the crossing entries) but, atypically for a puzzle featuring stacked 15’s, there are only four 3 letter answers in this puzzle and none are crucial in sorting out the lengthy stacked answers. That helps to toughen up the solve.

After ACADEMICCIRCLES, the best of the longer entries is the ten letter SLUICEGATE, but the smile inducing entries were triggered by some of Martin’s shorter, devious clues, like the floral treat of PETE for the “Rose family member”; CEOS, whose clue seemed plural and thus wanted to be SUIT; HALL, whose clue cleverly seemed to signal TALL but, hands down, his best clue in the puzzle was the inspired “Took home courses?” for ATEIN.

Good stuff; an excellent outing from British Columbia’s favorite cab driver!

This one totally kicked my butt. Even after cheating and "accidentally" seeing AIRCONDITIONERS and SATINS when I pushed the wrong tab and got Rex's site, I still got AthletICCoursES instead of ACADEMICCIRCLES. Totally made sense to me.

And I had been doing so well lately with 15's puzzles. Rex taught me not to be afraid of them, they are easier than you think.

What most others said, except I didn't hate it. I got lots of short stuff, and DINAH SHORE floated into view. Had AlES before ADES for awhile so ERIC didn't pop in right away as I was thinking it was some crazy verse form I never heard of. Oh, well, I had fun anyway.

@Joe - You're just overthinking the HALL clue. It's just a tricky way of implying that a hall can be a 'long' room (used as a passageway to walk from one area to another).

It's subtle wordplay on 'long', that is all. Can be easy to miss such clues, and often I stare at those after solving and still wonder what the heck they mean. Once explained, the head-slap moment usually occurs. All part of the experience :).

I liked the puzzle. Google is my friend. My only complaint was the IIII answer. I have never seen four I's used on a clock face. I thought that might be the answer and then decided that the constructor wouldn't want to cheapen the puzzle experience with a bad clue for a worse answer.

You say there are two options, either you know the obscure names or you don't and if you don't you have to look them up. Seems to me the point of a crossword is that if you don't know something you use the crosses to help you figure it out. I didn't know DINAHSHORE sang that song and had never heard of a PHILIPPINEEAGLE but after doing some work on the crosses I was able to get them both.

This might be an objectively fine puzzle, but I hated it all the same, mainly because of the beastly amount of proper-name knowledge required. I also agree with Two Ponies that "ATTA Baby" is not a thing people say, I think {Runners} is a clunky word when used to refer to AIR CONDITIONERS, I have no idea what a TRACTION ENGINE is ... yeah, this wasn't my cup of tea.

Finished with an error, the lower-right-hand-most square of the puzzle. Couldn't decide between ESME/LENE and ESMA/LENA. Decided that although neither ESMA nor LENE looked plausible, the latter was more implausible. Shows what I know.

Traction means "pulling." A traction engine is one designed for pulling. That reasonably characterizes a locomotive. Or the "tractor" of a modern semi. A "tractor trailer", of course, would logically be the thing that is pulled, although colloquially it's normally used to describe the entire rig.

The electric motors in emerging battery-electric vehicles are typically referred to as traction motors, and the large high-capacity batteries as traction batteries, to distinguish them from such things as fans and auxiliary batteries.

@anon...wow more than I ever thought I would know about rn clock faces!I had a used 1974 Fiat Spider (with an I). had fun fun fun till it rusted away. The spYder clue was weird, because a Miata is a specific model...@mac...sounds delightful!

Possible RED/RED bail-out(?): BABA instead of REBA. SPODE instead of ANODE. Gives you the excellent down partial ARIP. ("Took ___ at oragami".) Probably somethin' wrong with it. Hey -- better yet, just make every letter in the grid an E. Harder to clue, but easier to fill...

@31: Are U still rolling yer own crosswords? Been missing yer fine work. Publish some here. Don't be bashful. Can't be any worse than my all-E's opus.

@Tita--Yeah, can tell that Ashwood-Smith was considering that project, at 18-A. Trouble with all I's is that it ain't reminiscent of any sounds. Leaned on that heavy, in my E's one:EEEEEEEEEEEE= "A mouse!"EEEEEE="Noise made by a buzz saw"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE="Noise made by a buzz saw with a really long board"etc.

This was challenging for me, but I enjoyed working my way through it, though I DNF.@Z and @Two Ponies - SERT/ESTO was also my downfall. Time for me to finally learn SERT - I think I've resisted having to know another 4-letter muralist besides Miro :)

I'm surprised at the doubts about ATTA baby! - one of the first things I filled in. I heard it often growing up (in Wisconsin).

Others have made the point about BINOCULAR VISION, a term our family knows well. Our daughter's strabismus couldn't be completely corrected, so she doesn't have binocular vison For her its mainly a problem when she's driving at night; it's very hard for her to judge distances (oncoming cars, turn-offs, etc.).

@Masked and Anonymous, I was glad to see you mention "In the Still of the Night" - yes, such a great slow-dance song. For anyone needing a blast from the past, here are the Five SATINS SATINS performing it.

OK, I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome. I have arthritis and now a wristful of cortisone and a custom brace. I must "brace myself" to do crossword puzzles with a pen or on the computer. Quiltmaking is not threatened.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder is a specific model too, and a direct competitor with the Miata. (The Miata is officially the MX-5 Miata, so the partial names are consistent too). You're right that a clue like "Roadster rival" wouldn't be kosher.

As has been mentioned, predators have binocular vision with eyes facing forward while prey species have eyes on the sides of their heads and independent fields. It's for better ranging versus better awareness.

Prey species are wired to perceive front facing eyes as terrifying. It's a pattern that is ingrained in a very ancient part of our brain. Some researchers think that the brain's programming to respond to this facial characteristic with revulsion is the basis of our concept of ugliness.

I'm a prey species (see: Philippine Eagle), I only eat fruits and I've got front facing eyes. Binocular vision comes in handy in any number of situations; say leaping from tree to tree. Also, there's this hot yearling in the next group over who's got front facing eyes that's anything but revulsive.

@Martin...didn't know their was a Mitsubishi Spyder...guess I still think it's slightly non-halal because it is comparing a single, very specific model, the Miata, with a much-used term that is more like a designation - like Gran Touring, GT... There are Alfa Syders, Fiat Spyders, etc. - there are no Fiat Miatas, however...

@Flying Disc - No self-respecting Ultimate player has used a Frisbee since at least the early 80's. Since Discraft invented flight rings, their Westland Mold 175 gram disc has been the approved ultimate disc.

Both "Miata" and "Spyder" are specific models in the context of the clue. If Spyder weren't, the clue would be wrong. BTW, there are no Alfa Romeo Spyders or Fiat Spyders. Both used the model name "Spider." You can say that the Fiat Spider is a spyder (another word for roadster), which is your point. But only a few spyders were name "Spyder" (starting with the sainted Porsche 550 Spyder in 1953). The fact that one, by Mitsubishi, competes with the Mazda Miata, is what makes the clue work.

BTW, the notion of repulsive ugliness is wired into our limbic system -- an ancient part of the brain that we inherited from reptiles. Humans don't perceive front-facing eyes as ugly. Many of our ancestors did. We inherited the concept that a specific geometric arrangement can be terrifying. And yes, some non-predators, mostly primates and bats, have stereoscopic vision, but they're the exception to the rule, along with the predatory cetaceans that have eyes on the sides of their heads.

@Z - I haven't played Ultimate since college and not to give too much away, I graduated in the 80's. BTW - I checked the site and Frisbees are still acceptable for recreational and minor league games, which is my type of play.

There are a host of discs approved for various sports, mostly disc golf, by WFDF, the World FLYING DISC Federation. But if you play Ultimate with anything but an Ultra-Star, everyone will look at you funny.

"Can i just say that "traction engines" is absolute garbage? there is no such phrase in the Emglish language"

You can say it, but you can also check the dictionary before commenting. Better yet, since you're using a computer, check Google. There you'll find hundreds of pictures of those non-existent traction engines.

@Flying Disc - When one starts seeing obscure details like which mold is the approved mold, the weight of the disc, that some discs have flight rings, that the Westland mold is preferred over the Web mold by elite players, that the Westland mold name refers to the small print in the raised ring with Discraft's original address and that the Web mold refers to the fact that the ring now has their website rather than the current Wixom address of Discraft, one should realize that one is dealing with an Ultimate obsessive personality. One should nod their head with feigned interest and then go on with one's life.

This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.

All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)

@Anon 7:42am, thanks for your post on the Roman numerals on clocks. Fascinating!

TRACTIONENGINES? Really?

Did anyone else have TOLITTLEtoolatE and not let go?

I still don't get "Long way to walk?" Can someone help me put the clue together with "HALL?"

@Tita, hand up for REDs/sNODE.

I still miss ERIN Burnett and Mark Haines on CNBC in the morning. It was a delightful way to begin the day.

I took the LSAT twice. The first time was during my senior year of college, a Saturday morning, totally hung over, hardly able to see the paper. The second time was several years later after having taken a prep course. I was totally fresh, having lots of sleep and no beer the night before... and came within 5 points of having the same score as the first test. Go figure.

This one tripped me up. Had HAUL and couldn't see an alternative even though I knew 13D was that little boy's name that I couldn't remember, and would never have gotten IIII! Other miss was SiTINS. Guess I don't know ICH from ACH. Still don't understand the use of HALL, but there it is.

@SIS; I started with TOLITTLE...., but then realized it would have to be TOoLITTLE...which sent me in the right direction, which I got off the U in TUNING, the first word I had entered.

I was solving this puzzle during a horrific thunder storm. Unfortunately, I was also dog-sitting a German Shepherd who is terrified by loud noises. His owner gives him beer & valium on the 4th of July (just a little - PETA don't call). Having neither at hand, I turned on my hair dryer and aimed it at him (after he tried to jump in bed with me) and he melted into a puddle and fell asleep. Yay me!! Just a tip for you dog owners out there.Oh, the puzzle. I threw down "close but no cigar" at 31A and felt quite clever. Not.My husband is in a band with IIII other guys, all on heart medication. I call them the "Five Statins".Going to the MD this afternoon to see if I have a torn retina. Probably from doing too many NYT puzzles. Right now, off to check my clocks.

Interesting discussions on clocks faces. I would have sworn my 'grandfather' had a IV; it actually is IIII. What does that say about my powers of observation? Not much.

@connie in Seattle - wish you luck with your eye!

I had a rosy glow when the northwest and southwest corner went in easy, then reality hit me in the center section. Could not gain TRACTION, and eventually had to check in here to fill it in. My hat's off to you all who seem able to ace Fridays and Saturdays. However, I am getting closer, thank you. And I mean that, THANK YOU

Hey syndi landers. As you may have forgotten I moved to prime time a while ago. One thing that I didn't like was that when there is an announcement we would all get it too late. So, because I remember how sucky that was, here was what announced today.

[Hey, everybody! PuzzleGirl here checking in with a quick announcement. You all know about Lollapuzzoola, right? It's a really fun annual tournament held in New York. This year it will take place on August 4 (that's a Saturday in August). If you can't make it to the tournament, you might be interested in the "compete from home" division. You can find all the info you need at the Lollapuzzoola 5 website, including how to register, some details on prizes, and the list of really unbelievably top-notch constructors who are contributing puzzles to this adventure. Go check it out right now!]

@ginger - thanks for the good luck wishes - needed them on Friday the 13th! It was a torn retina and he did laser surgery on the spot. Ouch. He did say, however, that it was not caused by too much puzzling!

@Mighty Nisden - thanks for thinking of your old syndi-compatriots and sending us the heads up on Lollapuzzoola.

@connie - the laser surgery they do these days is truly miraculous! Speedy recovery from yours. Hope the severe weather out there doesn't affect you, @SiS and all the other Seattleites (see yesterday's comments) too harshly.

I checked the pendulum clock on my wall (it hasn't run for years) and sure enough "IIII" is opposite "X".

DNF because I left box 50 blank, but I didn't know until I came here that I also had an error with rENE at 52d. Other than that, I loved thge puzzle for all of its "AHA" moments. SLUICEGATE and LORDNELSON were the last long answers in, just as I toasted the sunset.

Tough one. Got through it,but there were many unsatisfying moments: ATTA (baby?), TRACTIONENGINE (as opposed to that old slippery engine that just won't do any work?), IIII. On the last, though, I must thank anon 7:42 for a wonderfully enlightening post.

Proudest moment: sussing out HENIE just from the movie title and year. I didn't have ANY of those letters.

Tell you what...just give me more lively 10's (liked all 4 in this one; the gimme LORDNELSON got me started). You include 15's TOLITTLEPURPOSE, IMHO.

Almost had a mistake in my finished grid, as I didn't know whether to have SLITS or SLaTS; the across never did make sense till I read the blogs. Just guessed "I" and quit.

Afterthought: Anita O'Day whose video of "peanut Vendor" appears in @Rex's write-up, DINAHSHORE, and Peggy Lee were contemporaries in American pop music. Yesterday I devoted a post on my blog to a Peggy Lee song that had a profound effect on me as a pre-teen in 1958; today the other two show up in Rexworld - syndication synchronicity?